AG
Harvey Announces Finding of Probable Cause
in Case of Muslim Nursing Student;Fairleigh Dickinson
University Accused of Discriminating Based
on Religious Attire

TRENTON
– Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
and the Division on Civil Rights announced
today that the State has issued a Finding
of Probable Cause against Fairleigh Dickinson
University for allegedly discriminating
against a Muslim nursing student by requiring
that she remove her religious head covering,
known as a khimar.

Named as the single Respondent in the
Finding of Probable Cause document is
Fairleigh Dickinson University of Bergen
County. The conduct at issue allegedly
took place in July 2004. Former Fairleigh
Dickinson student Debra Mason, of Jersey
City, alleges that she was told by the
school’s Director of Nursing in
July 2004 that she must remove her khimar
or face failing to complete a three-day
clinical rotation required as part of
an introductory nursing course.

A Finding of Probable Cause means the
State has completed its investigation,
and has determined there is sufficient
evidence to support a reasonable suspicion
that the actions of Fairleigh Dickinson
violated the New
Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD).

“We
are one nation that is indivisible by
race or religion. Each of us is obliged
to respect the beliefs, the dignity, and
the customary practices of all religions.
It is not only the right thing to do,
it is the law,” said Attorney General
Harvey. “We will protect the rights
of all people to work in an environment
that respects reasonable religious practices.”

According to Division on Civil Rights
Director J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, the Complainant,
Mason, was enrolled in the accelerated
Bachelor of Science nursing program at
Fairleigh Dickinson in May 2004. She began
classes at the university’s Teaneck
campus in June 2004.

As part of the curriculum for a course
known as Foundations of Nursing, students
are required to do a three-day clinical
rotation at a local hospital. Mason was
assigned to Saint Mary’s Hospital
in Passaic.

Mason alleges that, not long after her
course of study began, she met with Fairleigh
Dickinson’s Director of Nursing,
as well as its Administrator of Clinical
Affairs and External Relations. During
that early-July-2004 meeting, Mason alleges,
she was told the hospital would not permit
her to wear her khimar while performing
patient care.

According to Mason’s account, as
outlined in the Finding of Probable Cause
document, she removed the khimar as instructed
on July 15, 2004, again on July 20, 2004,
and again on July 22, 2004 – the
final day of her clinical rotation. During
that last day of clinical, Mason told
investigators, she went to her nursing
professor and complained that she felt
“completely uncomfortable ... naked”
in not wearing her khimar.

Mason contends that she was urged to speak
again with Fairleigh Dickinson’s
Director of Nursing. Afterward, Mason
alleges, she also spoke with Saint Mary’s
hospital officials, and they denied having
any hard-and-fast policy that prohibited
the wearing of a khimar. Subsequently,
a Saint Mary’s official told a Division
on Civil Rights investigator the same
thing, noting that there is already an
employee working in the hospital’s
radiology section who wears a khimar,
according to the Finding of Probable Cause
document.

“It
is important to remember that, at this
stage, we are talking about allegations,”
said Director Vespa-Papaleo. “But
it appears from Ms. Mason’s version
of events – which the Division’s
own investigation has found evidence to
support – that there was no genuine
attempt by the nursing faculty and administration
at Fairliegh Dickinson to work with Ms.
Mason. It is also noteworthy that, on
more than one occasion, university representatives
apparently advised Ms. Mason that she
must remove her khimar due to Saint Mary’s
Hospital policy, yet hospital officials
themselves told our investigators that
no such policy existed.”

Citing her belief that her religious head
covering would continue to be an issue
of contention in clinical rotations scheduled
for the Fall 2004 semester, Mason withdrew
from Fairleigh Dickinson’s nursing
program on July 28, 2004, according to
the Finding of Probable Cause document.

Now that a Finding of Probable Cause has
been issued, the case moves into a phase
known as Conciliation, a form of Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR) in which the
parties make a final attempt to resolve
the matter.

If it is not resolved at Conciliation,
the matter will be referred to the New
Jersey Office of Administrative Law, where
an Administrative Law judge will hold
a formal hearing or non-jury trial on
the merits of the case, and issue an Initial
Decision.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination
(LAD) provides that each Respondent found
to have committed a violation is subject
to a penalty of up to $10,000, provided
he or she has not been convicted of a
previous violation within the past five
years. Respondents who have violated the
LAD within the past five years are subject
to a penalty of up to $25,000, while those
who have been convicted of two or more
violations within the past seven years
are subject to a penalty of up to $50,000.

The Division on Civil Rights is responsible
for enforcing the LAD and the Family Leave
Act. Specifically, the Division investigates
allegations of discrimination in employment,
housing, places of public accommodation
and credit. Its offices are located in
Atlantic City, Camden, Jersey City, Newark,
Paterson, and Trenton. Further information
about the Division is available on its
Web site at www.NJCivilRights.org